Please Tell a Friend about this article.

Written by:
Paul thomas
Ireland

Homilies by an Immoral Government

If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy

The stage has now been fully set for full blown Batrachomyomachia (fracas) by Jonathan and his unthinking bunch of advisers and ministers. The removal of fuel subsidy on the first day of the New Year clearly shows the insensitive and cavalier nature of our shoguns whose rapacious desire for primitive acquisition has dulled their senses to the reality of life in present day Nigeria. Jonathan’s chutzpah to go ahead and remove subsidy without providing alternative sources of succour to the millions of helpless and hapless Nigerians is a clear indication this government wants to travel on a long winding road leading to the truncation of any form of rationality into the jungle of unrestrained, uncontrolled and uncontained outburst of unquenchable and combustible anger of frustrated, impoverished, deprived, molested, and harassed masses.

The goodwill towards this government evaporated the moment it obstreperously decided to go ahead with the removal of subsidy. The mindless decision to plunge millions of people into unimaginable misery just at the start of a new year prepares the ground for grand scale resistance from the battered and purloined majority. This government lacks the moral compass and wisdom to sail this ship safely to harbour. The gales, thunderstorms and frightening streaks of lightening strewn across the dark sky gives one the jitters about the direction of this one time pearl of Africa.

This government proposes strangulating and awry economic policies without the slightest regard for the decimating effects such draconian policies will have on the majority of common folks who all their lives have had to contend with one insane government after the other. They make laws that they themselves do not intend to keep. How can you pontificate while your hands are deep in sleaze and filth? This government tells us to tighten our belts while they feed fat, they tell us to sacrifice while they multiply their inanity and vanity. Jonathan tells us to bear the pain now so that our children can enjoy tomorrow; while he preaches these homilies, he lives in maddening opulence and unimaginable ostentation. A peek into the 2012 budget clearly shows that Jonathan has lost the verve to lead any person or people into the Promised Land. The ridiculous amounts allotted to feeding one man and attending to his personal needs staggers belief.

True leaders lead by example, at the outset of British Prime Minister David Cameron’s government, there were wide spread reforms and belt tightening policies carried out by his government in order to revamp the economy. One fundamental cost cutting measure he undertook was to cut the flamboyant lifestyle of his cabinet colleagues. He purged his own immediate government of excesses and waste. Some ministers had to take the responsibility of driving themselves to work instead of being chauffeur driven. Genuine leaders walk the talk and lead the way. It is not enough for you to tell Nigerians to tighten their already strangulating belt while your waistline is busting with billion Naira menus and the splurge of assorted, imported wines.

These leaders suffocate the masses and demand to be applauded. You budget SUVs of different dimensions and shapes while the masses are in dire strait in search of a decent means of transportation. From the first day of this year the millions of Nigerians without any source of succour have been further plunged into indescribable agony and extreme poverty. The multiplier effect of fuel increase means every other item in the market will take an upward surge and that will create a further worsening of situation for the millions of Nigerians whose livelihood and sustenance is determined by these inevitable exigencies. Jonathan is playing an unfamiliar sound and I hope he will be ready to withstand the maelstrom of movement stirred by the dancing steps of his guest.
The poignant reality of this removal will be the incalculable hardship many Nigerians will be subjugated to; from increased house rent to ridiculous and astronomical transport cost, from prohibitively high cost of food items to the complete deprivation of basic necessities that are commonly taken for granted in saner climes. Many artisans whose livelihoods depend solely on daily income through plying their trade will have to look elsewhere in order to eke-out a living.

The interconnectedness of the market creates a cyclical reaction such that a slight change from one end creates a seismic effect throughout the market. Increased fuel price will affect all aspect of economic activity and the people to bear the brunt of this madness are the masses.
The question one is forced to ask is how this subsidy removal will affect our megalomaniacs called leaders, whose children and dogs are far away in saner societies feeding and living in sprawling mansions with well manicured lawns tucked away in some high class neighbourhood where noise and pollution are non-existent? Whereas we scratch for livelihood in a country flowing with the abundance that God had generously endued her with. These mindless merchants steal from us then they oppress us. They make decisions purportedly on our behalf but in actual sense it is to satisfy their never ending desire for primitive acquisition. They make laws only because it furthers their grandiose design for unbridled access to more stealing and plundering. Can someone ask Jonathan how removing subsidy from petroleum products will ever affect him negatively? This one time deprived child now sits on a pot of gold and all of a sudden forgets his days of no shoes and no shirts and inflicts unfathomable hardship on an already emasculated populace.

Nigerians are thrown into shark infested waters and told to survive without any possibility of wading off the predators. How would people survive before the gain of subsidy removal starts to bear fruit? Who pays their house rents and healthcare before government builds houses and hospitals? How would they commute to work pending when government decides to buy buses to move them about? A callous and bereft government never weighs possibilities and assume less stringent options for the people their supercilious egotistic mien convinces them that they are too superior to their subjects to take them seriously. They show by their demeanour that they were never voted in by the people, they therefore are not accountable to them. Only their godfathers who selected them command their allegiance and deference. Leaders who attain leadership by popular majority consider the people beyond their own personal aspirations. Elected leaders make extensive consultations to figure out ways to ameliorate the lives of the people before effecting draconian policies.

Many Nigerians by this monstrous act have not only being plunged below the poverty line but are been systematically annihilated. Brazil recently moved up the scale to become the sixth largest economy in the world relegating Great Britain to seventh position. Brazil lifted forty million Brazilians from poverty into the middle class. To achieve this great feat Brazil undertook sound and deliberate economic steps that will ensure that their citizens enjoy the benefit of dynamic leadership. Forward looking countries create conducive conditions to alleviate the plight of their citizens not policies that will further consign them eternally to abject squalor. Why would a thinking government impose fuel hike on the first day of a new year when most families have been financially spent and would require some time to get themselves financially stable again. This atrocious act portends ominous signs for the future of this country; governments exist to serve the people not to emasculate
and purloin them. Jonathan disparages Nigerians by this thoughtless act. We are tormented, dehumanised and molested. We beg for what’s our right from the people that we supposedly elected. Nigeria is truly a paradoxical entity. It’s hard to believe this is the same government Nigerians fought so hard to preserve when the goons of the previous president were determined to make his access to the presidency a mirage.

Many households have been reduced to mendicants whose survival hinges on the goodwill of others. Before subsidy was removed many lived by the precipice, now without subsidy it is definite they will be thrown over the cliff. Government cannot continue to ask the people to sacrifice while they live in sinful pleasure. How long should the people endure? Would it be for forever? When will the gain of citizenship trickle down to the man on the street? One leader comes and another goes the slogan remains the same, the need for the masses to tighten their belt while they help themselves to our commonwealth. It is despicable and uncharitable for any thinking government to even contemplate subjecting millions of Nigerians to further deprivation and agony.

At the expiration of Obasanjo’s government in 2007, Nigeria had $32 billion in foreign reserve coupled with the fact that significant amount of our foreign debts had been paid off also during his time in office and all these were done while subsidy was still applied to petroleum products. The question we must ask is how was Obasanjo able to save such an enormous amount of foreign reserve, pay off foreign debt and still not tinker with fuel subsidy? Has this government become so profligate and prodigal so early in the day that our foreign reserve is near depletion and both internal and external debts are mounting and the only alternative left for this government is to unleash economic terror on the already battered and impoverish majority? The Jonathan administration has saved nothing but spent everything. The daily burgeoning size of the government and the unabated and unbridled rapacity is what must be checked in lieu of subsidy removal on fuel.

The removal of subsidy in an already volatile country where unemployment ranks as one of the highest in the world and with the shambolic state of our security systems the government just might have created a veritable platform for notorious and nefarious activities to take on a more cataclysmic dimension. In the era of subsidy government did not have the wherewithal to tackle societal menace that have become part of everyday life; now with subsidy gone the impending anarchy is better imagined. The anachronistic system of governance must be replaced with a more dynamic and vibrant leadership style. Across the globe young and enthused leaders are emerging and allowing the old brigandage brigade to take their rest and do other meaningful things with their lives. The bulk of our active politicians have been on the stage forever, the time has come for them to start a gradual disengagement from the centre stage so that their invaluable experiences can be tapped and maximised by thenew entrants privileged into leadership capacity.

May I admonish Mr President that the removal of subsidy at this topsy-turvy state in the internal affairs of Nigeria is most unwise; other avenues must be explored and prodigality must be stopped if his desire for subsidy removal is to be heeded? Alternative arrangements must be made to cushion the effect of such removal; the penurious state of the majority requires adequate provision for certain necessities to be in place in order to mollify the already precarious state of things. The idea of public office holders living in splurge and opulence whereas the majority are compelled to live in abject squalor does not cut the picture of a serious government. Let leadership be by example. It is unconscionable to have class differentials of citizens in the same country, on the one hand the lords and masters and on the other peasants and mendicants. Let’s hope Mr President will heed the voice of reason and rescind his earlier hasty decision or risk schadenfreude from the people when the chickens come home to roost.
One more thing, the next time your Finance Minister makes the rest of you look like a bunch of shilly-shally scallywags in public, do not hesitate to call her bluff and send her packing.

Shalom..

Paul Thomas.





Please Tell a Friend about this article.